I'll try to explain how I shade hair in this tutorial. I use Photoshop 6.0 and Wacom tablet, but these techniques work well with traditional mediums. In fact, I prefer pens and pencils when shading hair in this manner, but I don't have access to a scanner, so the tablet is a convenient alternative. I highly recommend buying one. It is well worth the money if you install the correct drivers.

If you have questions please don't hesitate to ask. Each number below corresponds to the number in the frame.

1. Start off with a fairly clean sketch on a new canvas. Size is up to you. This particular canvas was 300 x 300. You can fix things later on, so don't worry too much about detail, just let your hand flow, smoothness in your lines is something I suggest practicing. Try to keep your hand still and let the tool you're using work with you instead of against you. Picture the hair growingfrom the head, you should try to "caress" the face with it. I like to make the ends sharpen out and curve like so.

2. It doesn't matter where you begin but pick a piece of hair you like and begin by stroking downwards (if you start at the top of the piece) or upwards (if you're starting from the bottom). Begin with low pressure strokes so that the shading is fairly light to begin with. Keep stroking in the same place several times increasing or decreasing the pressure you place on your tool.

3. Increasing pressure creates contrasting strands in your hair. It looks appealing to the eye this way. Make sure to leave highlighted areas where you want your light source to hit the hair. I usually don't think about this too heavily, but if you're nitpicky about lighting I suggest picking a spot where your light is and shade based on that point.

4. Continue to stroke your pencil or tablet pen along each hair. Follow the curves and lines you've made earlier in the sketch. Darken areas to bring out highlights and basically create black and white eye candy. Remember you're shading as if each strand were growing on your characters head. Don't be lazy, keep your patience and do every stroke. Once you get the hang of it you'll forget about how much time it takes and just flow with it.

5. The finished piece is just so appealing to look at. The highlights make your eye travel along the entire surface of the hair. Dark areas give your eye places to focus and "rest". Practice Practice Practice. Learn to control your hand movements and your lines will be precise and more clean. And then VIOLA. Your hair looks splendid and shampoo commercial worthy. Go you

Again if you have questions leave a comment or send me a note. I see notes more readily so I recommend using that method. Thank you for reading, I hope you found this useful~!